Honeybee wrote:What's really interesting about Home is many TnT shippers really hate that she married Koss and called it out for artificial conflict, but so many people also love that kiss in Home.
Well, maybe I'm overgeneralizing a bit here, but consider the sources of that objection. Often it comes from people who seem to see T'Pol as nothing more than a human with pointed ears and a crappy haircut, and their fanfic preferences seem to indicate that they don't like anything terribly complex. I know there are probably exceptions but the loudest and most notable instances of that complaint I can think of are from folks who write and rave about fanfic that doesn't ever really "go" anywhere, it shows us nothing new about the characters, it's repetitive both of itself and its show, and there's nothing more complex going on than snappy dialogue that's out of character and possibly a sex scene. They confuse "gratuitous angst" with "conflict necessary to moving a plot and character development." What they are saying is they don't like conflict. They like stories and fantasies where the characters are already right where they want them to be and don't want them to move from there; they do not care about the journey, they seem to know what Trip and T'Pol have is worth fighting for, they just don't want to see them doing the fighting for it.
Was I particularly happy that she married Koss? No. It did sort of come out of nowhere in terms of seeming like they felt the need to back away from a relationship between TnT for some unknown reason. But I feel that, had there been a Season Five, after T'Pol's marriage and divorce, after Trip leaving Enterprise and coming back, after Baby Elizabeth...I think that the writers could've easily seen that Trip and T'Pol were in a position to realize just how much they need each other, as illustrated by the handholding at the end of "Terra Prime."
To me, that handholding would've lost significance if I'd never seen where they came from (she wouldn't even shake his hand) or the various speedbumps in the road to how they got there. Take away the fight for what they have, and all you've got is "that's nice, they like each other, they're holding hands."
Some people still get so bent out of shape about it (not saying you, Rigil 
) so, at some other places, for me it's become one of those "forum grenades" that, when I see it, I immediately grow weary because of the people I mentioned above. That isn't what's happening here, because this isn't that kind of place.
The puntage was all the more disappointing and frustrating for me as a viewer because Season 3 seemed to be laying clear groundwork for a relationship storyline in Season 4.
